June 26, 2008

Thursdays are crazy down at the Boise Zoo. It seems as if every daycare, every school that is still in session and every mom and her stroller are waiting in line to get in. On Thursdays children under the age of 3 are free and adults are only $3. I guess that is probably the reason why so many flock to one particular place on that exact day.We got a group of us together. My cousin's wife Karen and her two boys, my mother, my sister and her daughter and then my Aunt Sheryl came with us. It was warm but we had a great time. The Boise zoo isn't really at all that great but it was fun enough for the kiddos. Most of the animals weren't there or were sleeping so it was a quite day watching animals. I think Keaton was alittle disappointed that there were no zebras, elephants or girraffes. What kind of zoo doesn't have these animals in it? I guess that is why it is so cheap. But it was worth it to see the boys get out and have some fun. I think the funnest thing for them was the carosel ride that we took them on. They just loved that and Andrew had a hard time getting off. He did not want to leave. We saw quite a few people that we knew there with their children also. It was nice to get out and be with all the others. It made the day go by so much faster. Afterwards we went to the park just across the street and had lunch. We packed ones for the kids to have since we knew it would be about lunch time. Here are a few pictures of our time at the zoo.

June 24, 2008

Tonight my sister, mom and I went to a swimsuit party. One of the leaders I work with in the Young Womens knows a woman who makes pretty fabulous swimsuits for a very decent price. So we went tonight and tried on a bunch of different ones. We finally found some we like. We are so excited for them. It is so hard to find a modest, but yet really cute bathing suit. The great thing about Cami Swimwear is that you can design your own and add lengths here and shorten there. It is really up to you how you want it. It was very resonable pricing. I highly recommend her to anyone. Check it out at www.camiswimwear.com.

June 23, 2008

This past weekend we had a Star 2nd Ward Hoedown. We met in a big community barn just down the road from us and it was the perfect place. It was kind of warm so everyone migrated outside where it was 10 degrees cooler. Keaton and Andrew just had a great time running around with some of the kids from their nursery classes. There was great food, entertainment and conversation. We had a pretty quite week just swimming in the new pool and just trying to stay cool. It has really warmed up here and so the pool has kept us pretty cool. I am so glad that we have it. My boys love the water!

June 20, 2008

Last night Lance and I had the opportunity to attend Nick and Mandy's sealing. Nick and Mandy are a younger couple in our ward. I serve with Mandy in the Young Womens and Nick is with the young men. I have known Mandy since she was little and I knew her siblings and parents fairly well. Nick and Mandy were married almost 2 years ago in Maui, Hawaii and last night they were sealed for time and all eternity in the Boise temple.Nick is a recent convert. He was baptized last year and he has been such an incredible example to all of us. Shortly after they were married Nick was shipped off to Iraq for 18 months. When he left, his wife Mandy gave him a Book of Mormon to read while he was away. While he was in Iraq he read the entire Book of Mormon I believe a couple of times. He came back with a strong desire to learn more.He has such an incredible testimony. I love the fire that new converts bring into the church. He was baptized shortly after he got home and ever since then they have been working so hard to go to the temple. I felt so privelaged to have been there with a lot of the other friends from our ward. The sealing was so neat. They were both very prepared for what took place. They knew they were in the right place. We were all in tears. The spirit was so strong, it bore strong testimony to me of the importance of such a sacred ordinance. Right after their sealing there was another one. Mandy's grandfather was the only one present from her family there. After Nick and Mandy were married, Mandy was proxy for her deceased grandmother and was able to peform another sealing for her grandfather. That was just an added bonus to our night. I love attending weddings. They are all so special.Afterwards we all went to the CheeseCake Factory for dinner and desert. That was my first time there. I loved it! I think it has become one of my favorites. There were about 20 of us all there. We just laughed and had so much fun with Nick and Mandy on their important day.My sister, father and brother were so kind to watch our boys. We didn't get back til almost 10 p.m.. Our boys were both still awake and running on adrenaline. They had a rough night and today we are paying the price for that.

June 18, 2008

It is offically summertime! We are so excited! It is about time too. We have had the strangest weather but now I think the summer weather has arrived. My boys LOVE it too. We are outside every day, they wake up and all they want to do is go outside and play. We have done quite abit of swimming too. The pool is a great place to cool off.Lance bought the boys this huge inflatable water slide for the summer. They love playing on it. The nicest thing about it is it is so easy to put up and take down. Right now they just enjoy it without the water. But once it is hot in the afternoon then they like the water on.

June 15, 2008

This year for Father's Day we were a little relaxed. We didn't really do much. The nice thing was, our boys let us sleep in until 7:30 this morning. That was the best Father's Day gift of all. Since we have church at 9 we didn't get to do much for Lance. We just gave him hugs and kisses and told him we loved him. It has all become too commericalized for me. What ever happened to homemade cards and just a day of recognition? That is what we did!This was my week to teach the young women and our topic was on Missionary Work and understanding what it is missionaries do. We had great participation. I just love my Miamaids and the Laurels too! We have a great bunch of girls.After church we went to my parents home and hung out for awhile until the family get together. We went to my Uncle Spencer's house for dinner. I got to see a lot of cousins that I haven't seen since they were babies and now they are 17 yrs. old. It was nice to be with them and see what they have been up to. We don't get together much with my dad's side much but when we do it is fun to be together. The boys had fun because there was a trampoline and lots of food. That was Andrew's favorite part. He can eat all day long and never stop. I think he had dinner 4 different times.So Happy Father's Day Lance! I love you very much. You have been an amazing husband and father. Our boys love you so much. It is so much fun to sit back and watch you wrestle and play with them. It has always been so natural for you. Thanks for being that sweet husband/father you are to us all. Also to my dad. I have the greatest dad in the world. I love him very much. He has always been there for me when I have needed him most. He is never far away. Thanks dad for loving me.

This year we decided to try and plan a day camp for the Youth in our ward. This really worked, it was an amazing experience for our youth and they came away with stronger friendships. Here's what we did-Everyone met at the church on Saturday morning about 6:15 a.m and we all loaded up in our cars and headed up to the Pancheri's Cabin up by McCall. They own about 1800 acres of some of the most beautiful forest in Idaho. It was just gorgoues. I can't even begin to describe how beautiful the drive was. It was early morning, the sun was just peaking over the mountains and it was nice and crisp outside. The drive up was about an hour and a half. Thank goodness I followed some of the leaders up there because this campsite was so hidden, we would never have found it. Sorry to all those who were in my truck. We went pretty fast around those windy roads, some got carsick and some got dizzy. But good news, we made it!! Our day was planned to the T. It was based from Elder Dallin H. Oaks' talk "Good, better and best." It was an opportunity for the youth to improve their leadership skills, feel a great love for the Savior and to become a closer nit youth. We had a great number of youth show up. I was very impressed! We have some amazing leaders also. They are so fun to work with. Lets just say I have the best calling ever! I love working with the youth. We had great talks, fun team building games, really yummy food, thanks Tiffany for preparing it! You did a great job!The young men and young women just got along so well. Everyone was put into a group and they were assigned that group for the day. We planned skits, had tug-o-wars and volleyball challenges. By the way, the leaders beat the youth at the tug-o-war contest. They were quite the challenge. The perfect way to end the perfect activity was with a sweet testimony meeting. Almost every singler person that attended got up to bear their testimonys. I was so touched with how many mentioned that "today was the best day." It was the one of the best days!

Then what would be a youth gathering without a water fight. With all the water left over in our coolers we all just had fun getting wet. It was a wild water fight.I think this will become a tradition in our ward to have with the youth.

June 12, 2008

My sister and her husband just recently moved into their new home for awhile. I couldn't believe how huge it was. When they told us it was just alittle over 7,000 sq.ft I couldn't believe it! We will have lots of room to run around in. It sits on 2 acres so that will be nice to have all that space. No one to bug them.We have been over the last few nights helping them clean in up to make it liveable. It was a lot of work but it was worth it. Just look at it! It is so beautiful. And the best part? They just live up the road from all of us. So we will still see them.Congratulations Rachel and Jason on your own space and home!the kitchen is incredibly big. Enough room for a partythe view out the family room

June 7, 2008

There is a tradition in Star that starts every year the first weekend in June. I am not sure why they call it Star Mule Days but that's what it is called. Last year I don't remember seeing one Mule in the parade but this year there were quite a few so that was better, because after all it is Mule days! It started out kind of cold but it warmed up just in time for us to enjoy the outdoors. Our cousins Adam and Annie Spiel and their sweet children joined us and so did my sister Rachel and Ava. We all met up at the Elementary school and walked over to the "funny farm." It's not really called that but that is the name we have given it. It is a house with lots of farm animals and other animals that are not normally seen on a farm, like a zebra, how about a camel and emus. Has anyone else been to a farm and seen these animals? The kids just loved it. So we had to sneak in and take some pictures.(here are some animals that the kids loved)Keaton wanted to get up close to the zebraKeaton and I getting a better look at the zebraAfter the farm we headed down to the parade. Star Mule Days has been around ever since I can remember and ever since the seniors that live in this town can remember too. We went and put our chairs up ahead of time because it is amazing how many people come to this parade. We had great seats! Good job Lance! On the way there we passed by a church that we pass by every day. There is an old sign right up above it that says it is the "Oldest church in Idaho since 1871." So our cousins had to get their picture next to it.The Spiel familyThe parade was fun. The kids liked all the free candy that they threw out to everyone. It was always the junkie, cheap candy that no one likes. My kids just wanted to eat it all, but unforunatly I didn't let them eat much because they were all hard as a rock. But we did get some toothpaste from the local dentist. Parades anymore now days are just advertisements. It was fun. They had lots of strange things. Lots of animals. Look at these:how often do you see one of these walking in a parade or let alone down the street? Come to Star and you will.Funny little clown handing out candy to the kidspoor little ponies carrying around larger people. Keaton said "look mom, that's frank! If you've seen Cars you will get itAndrew fell asleep, it must have worn him outall the kids waiting for the parademe and my boysWe had a great weekend. We were also able to help my sister and her husband get their home cleaned that they are moving into. They really got the hook up with this house. It will be the perfect place for gatherings since it is 7000 sq. ft. Are you ready for us Rachel and Jason? Here is the kitchen of their home, we started on that first.We also had a graduation/birthday party for my cousin Kevin. I won't go into a lot of detail with that but we had a fun family/friend get together. Here are some pictures from that party. Enjoy!Keaton and CarterKevin with his friendsKevin being thrown into the pool